Burrito's Master
by Haberdashing
Summary: One-shot in the Twitch Plays Pokemon world following the events of TPP Crystal. Over the course of several days, Burrito begins to realize that something about his new Trainer was... off.


It took some time for me to realize that my new master wasn't a normal Trainer.

I'd lived with Bill all my life, and Bill had always been a bit eccentric. He never made me battle, preferring to let me sit by his side or warm his feet, and I happily accepted that. So when Bill had me go off with AJ, an up-and-coming Trainer, I wasn't sure what to expect.

I didn't do well when I started battling, of course. I'd have to give in after only a few attacks. But at first, I thought it was my fault. I was weak, I was unskilled, I didn't know what I was doing. Some of his other Pokemon were managing just fine. I just needed to get stronger. I needed to prove to him that I could fight, too.

After the first dozen battles, I realized that we weren't following much of a strategy when fighting. Then again, neither did the wild Pokemon we encountered, and most other Trainers seemed clueless too. Maybe I was just smarter than all of them, born to be a battle strategist, even though I'd spent most of my life unexposed to the world of battling.

But even when I realized that I should be using different attacks, I still followed AJ's orders. Stupid, perhaps, but he was my master. And I would be a good fighter for him, and grow big and strong, just like he wanted.

And yes, AJ walked in circles, bumped into walls, kept checking his Pokedex and backpack, never talked…

But Bill rarely left the house, spent days at a time on his PC before he passed out from exhaustion, and talked to his Pokemon more than his parents.

Who was I to judge?

I didn't care about his quirks, just so long as he meant well. And, despite his utter incompetence, AJ always meant well. That was why he kept checking up on the other Pokemon and I both in battle and when walking around, why he'd let us out for no reason and give us items just so we'd have something to look after.

So what if he'd spent half an hour trying to get past one bumpy road? So what if some of us had stupid nicknames, and if his full name was nearly unpronounceable? Those were minor details, unimportant in the grand scheme of things. What mattered was that I'd found somebody who cared about me.

I was naive, perhaps, but better that than overly critical.

When he fought Morty, I finally saw an experienced Trainer in action. Morty was skilled, and his every choice in attack showed it. And it was obvious that AJ… wasn't. Even when we finally beat him, it came down to dumb luck more than actual skill. The hours spent trying to get to Morty hadn't caught my attention, as I had trouble figuring out the gym puzzle myself at first, but I realized after AJ fought Morty that not all Trainers were this clueless about battle tactics. But why, after we'd all collapsed in a pile on the gym floor, hadn't AJ considered that we needed more training, or that he needed to try a different strategy? Why did he just keep going and going and going, no matter what?

Later on that day, I watched him typing at the PC, his fingers flying in every direction, cringing as a notice on the screen said that he'd released one of his Pokemon. I hadn't gotten to know N the Drowzee too well- he was still new to the team, we both were- but I could tell from the gasps from my fellow Pokemon that it wasn't supposed to be like this.

And that cringing… He was releasing a Pokemon, but clearly he didn't really want to go through with it. Had N wanted to be released? No, that didn't fit with what little I knew of him; he was as willing to fight as the rest of us. I couldn't figure it out.

I began to notice that this kid slept as little as Bill did.

Then AJ released Prince and Wooper, and as he stood by the PC, I could see him crying, his face pressed against the keyboard. The other patrons of the Pokemon Center were clearly trying and failing to stop staring at the kid who was now bawling after walking in circles around the Pokemon Center for an hour.

I knew for a fact Prince didn't want to be released. The Wooper I didn't know, but Prince and I had become close friends in the past two days. We both were young and weak and just wanted to get stronger to please AJ. But if Prince didn't want to go, and AJ didn't want Prince to go, then why…?

It must be somebody else. His mother, perhaps, or one of the Trainers he was constantly on the phone with.

We kept going, walking in circles and using useless attacks in battle and passing out in a heap on the ground every few hours when we all tired out and AJ hadn't bothered stopping by a Pokemon Center. I knew by this point that something was wrong with AJ, but…

But he still cared about it, and had us walk by his side, and gave us as much attention as he could muster.

Yes, he was incompetent at battle, and seemingly got lost at the drop of a hat, and just generally seemed to be an idiot. But he was _my _idiot. And I was going to stick by him, fighting for his safety every step of the way.

He gave me a nifty device that helped me train when the others were in battle, keeping me safe near the back of the team. I wanted to do more, to be the one fighting on the front lines, but I figured once again that it was just a sign that I wasn't strong enough for him, that maybe I never would be.

And then, in the Ice Path, after hours of skidding on the ice and pushing boulders around and around, it happened.

As a wild Pokemon fell, one of dozens our team had taken down in the cave, I felt a pulse of energy flow through me. I felt stronger, faster, more alive. My body turned warm and tingly all over, and after a flash of light, it was all over.

I had evolved.

Bill had talked about evolution with me, of course; it was one of the topics he loved talking about most. Ad I tried to figure out what had happened, I remembered his lectures on the topic, how he'd described all the ways I could evolve as he'd ruffled my fur.

Aside from exposure to stones, Eevees could evolve if they became attached enough to their Trainer- and, he always added, if they'd grown stronger in battle. That's why I stayed an Eevee when with him, because he never let me into battle, because he loved me just the way I am.

But Eevees could evolve into two different forms based on friendship, Espeon and Umbreon, depending on whether it was day or night during the battle that changed them. And I'd lost track of what time of day it was in the hours since entering the cave, and AJ's nonexistent sleep cycle didn't help matters.

I looked down at the nearest patch of ice and gasped when I saw my reflection. I was an Espeon now. Somewhere outside this dark and quiet cave, the sun was out.

As I stared at my reflection, I suddenly became aware of all the wild Pokemon around me. There was a family of Golbats directly above me, one mother and three brothers, the father killed two weeks ago by a falling icicle. The Swinub spinning around my feet was the youngest of seven, afraid of heights, wanting more than anything to explore the world outside the cave. I could sense the location of every Pokemon that inhabited the cave, every bump in the cave walls, the slow but steady flow of water below us.

I suddenly remembered one other thing Bill had told me in his lectures. Espeon was a Psychic-type. I hadn't really known much about the type system, and being a "Normal-type" had always seemed too abstract for me. But now, I understood. This power, this strange and inexplicable knowledge, was what it meant to be a Psychic-type.

The others had gone ahead without me, and I ran to catch up to them, anxious to show them my new form. As I did, I started hearing my peers… It sounded like they were talking, but their mouths were closed, and some of the things they uttered were things they never would have uttered out loud. Atta was grumbling about how he had to do all the dirty work on the team. And AJ…

As I got close to AJ, my mind was bombarded with voices, thousands of voices, all shouting things that made no sense.

_Left right up up start A up We got an Espeon A up up start Yay start Why no Umbreon left left Down with the False Prophet up start Praise the breakfast burrito left…_

I pressed my ears against my head, but the voices kept going.

_Down down We're almost there start A left B We need to milk Whitney left up right I love you guys right right left Burrito has ascended unto his final form up down left down up…_

For days now, I'd wondered what was going through AJ's head.

Now I knew.


End file.
